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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127372
BDUGU~~li~oo~~~_D~~~R_~_eS_~_~_R_OO_~_l _ e David Schu ltz (far lan e) defeated 1990 Nati onal Hot Rod Associatio n Champion .John Myers (1) at the Supernationals season opener, held at Houston Raceway Park. Schultz downs Myers at Houston Veli Mal in of Finland. But Schultz's slow . 110 reaction time convi nced Myers that he (Myers) would win the fina l on a "holeshot " h ea dstart. (Racers can wi n with slower times by reacting quicker to the Christmas tree; the clock starts ru nni ng when bikes leave the line, not when the green light By T odd Ven ey flash es.) "If Schultz an d I both duplicate our HOUS TON,TX,MAR. 1 ·3 h e balance of power may be shifting in drag racing, now that the two teams hurt most by the rise of 1990 NHRA Champion John Myers have joined forces. In his first race as official rider for the rever ed Vance & H ines stable, dethroned '87 a nd '88 Ch ampion David Schultz won the first of many in evitable final-round showdowns with Myers at th e NHRA Supernational s a t H ou ston Raceway Park. "I've always looked up to Vance and Hines," said Schultz, soundin g more lik e a giddy fan wh o had just shaken hands with hi s idol than on e of the mo st successfu l riders in drag racing hi story. " As a racer, I always emu lated T erry Van ce (the winningest rider ever with 24 career titles ). Now I'm his rid er. And to have an engine bui lder like Byron H in es, well , that's about as good as it gets." , A final -round meet ing between Myers and Schultz seemed inevita ble, as it always does between the top two qual ifi er s in stra igh t-L ine racing. Before a wheel had turned, it was obvious who would be the last two down the drag strip Sunday night. T 18 Schultz led the field from day one, when he covered the quarter-mil e track in 7.77 seconds at 171.13 mph - just four-hundredths of a second from the track record Myers set in winning the event last year. , Myers, naturally, was seeded No. 2 with a 7.81/172.91. The rest of the top half of the fastest field in hi story (8.04 bump) was filled ou t by Jim Bernard (No. 3, 7.85/169.33 ), Ron Ayers (No. 4, 7.86/168.69), Steve Meiterman (No. 5, 7.87/ 169.93), Keith Gra y (No. 6, 7.89/172.91), Wayne Saunders (No . 7, 7.91/174.79), and Tom Wolb ers (No . 8, 7.92/172.38). , In elimi nations, Myers did exac tly what th e top -ranked rider in ' the country should do: He got progressively quicker as the race wore on, improving slig htly from a 7.83/167.09 in a full-s econd first-round win over . '90 Springn ation al s winn er P aul Gast's 8.83/152.15 to a 7.81/17 1.07 in a close semi fina l win over thr ee-time runner-u p J im Bern ard's 7.92/ 164.89. Schultz's V&H-prepped Kawasaki also got faster as he won round after round, but his reaction tim es (to the Christmas tree lights that signal the start of each heat) were considerably slower than those of Myers. " I try to match my reaction times to my opponent," Schultz explained, meaning that he doesn 't bother to cut the ligh ts close and risk automatic disqualification for a foul start when he has his opponents covered. "If you look a t my stats over my whole career, you' ll see that I'm always slow in the first couple of rounds, but that I get faster when I have to in the end." Just as he plan ned, Schultz closed the gap on his q uicker-leaving foes each time he poked the 5-speed transmi ssion into another gear. After a cautio usly slow .ISl-second reaction time (.095 is average), Schultz rode ar ound Steve Johnson in the first round wi th a 7.88/ 168.69. A round later, Larry Greenlaw, compe ting in hi s first race since a 1989 cras h, broke ou t of the blocks .Il-second ahead of Schultz, whi ch wou ld have been a big eno ugh lead to hold off anyone but Myers or Schultz, who outpowered him, 7.78/ 169.07 to 8.04/166.35. Schultz came within a hundredth of a second of the track recor d in a semi fina l victory over Europe's top rider, runs fro m previou s rounds, I' ll win," predicted Myers. " He's got the q uicker bike' now, bu t I thi nk I can beat hi m at the 'tree and hold him off." Myers was wro ng - on bo th counts. Schultz, whose best reaction time to that ' point (.110) was slower than Myers ' worst (.095), came through under pressure with a clu tch .027 reaction. Myers was go ne an instant later with a typically q uick .068, but . the race already had been lost. With a .000·second advantage before he had to shift, Schultz was home free. Desp ite missing the 2n d-gear shift point and making one of his worst runs of the day, a 7.80/ 166.48, Schu ltz's razor-sharp reflexes carried him to the finish line ahead of Myers' quicker . 7.79/169.01. Leading the NHRA standings for the first time since 1988, his secon d of two consecu tive Champ ionship seasons, Schultz has reason to believe hi s newly forged alliance with Vance & Hines will carry him all the way to a third title: The winner of the first race of the Ifl-race season (up from eight in 1990) almost always wins the Championship in a lan dslide. There hasn 't been a midseason lead change 0'1, in years.